{"id":"C1936A00019","name":"Supplementary Appropriation (Works and Buildings) Act 1934-35","slug":"supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1934-35","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"19 of 1936","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":3786,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1936A00019-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Supplementary Appropriation (Works and Buildings) Act 1934-35","content":"THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.\n\n---\n\nSUPPLEMENTARY APPROPRIATION \n(WORKS AND BUILDINGS) 1934-1935.\n\n---\n\nNo. 19 of 1936.\n\nAn Act to appropriate a further sum out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the service of the year ended the thirtieth day of June One thousand nine hundred and thirty-five for the purposes of Additions, New Works, Buildings, &c.\n\n\\[Assented to 28th May, 1936.\\]\n\nPreamble.\n\nBE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, for the purpose of appropriating the grant originated in the House of Representatives, as follows :—\n\nShort title.\n\n1. This Act may be cited as the Supplementary Appropriation (Works and Buildings) Act 1934-35.\n\nAppropriation of £17,513.\n\n2. The sum of Seventeen thousand five hundred and thirteen pounds which has been issued from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the service of the year ended the thirtieth day of June One thousand nine hundred and thirty-five shall be deemed to have been appropriated as from the date of the passing of the Act No. 19 of 1934 for the purposes and services expressed in the Schedule to this Act.\n\nSCHEDULE.\n\nF.2770.—Price 3d.\n\n \nSCHEDULE.\n\n```html\n

ABSTRACT.

PART 1.—DEPARTMENTS AND SERVICES—OTHER THAN BUSINESS UNDERTAKINGS AND TERRITORIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH

£

2,005

II.—BUSINESS UNDERTAKINGS...........................

13,572

III.—TERRITORIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH.................

1,936

TOTAL ADDITIONS, NEW WORKS, BUILDINGS, ETC..............

17,513

\n```\n\n \n1934-35.\n\n```html\n

PART I.— DEPARTMENTS AND SERVICES—OTHER THAN BUSINESS UNDERTAKINGS AND TERRITORIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH.

PRIME MINISTER’S DEPARTMENT.

£

Under Control of Department of the Interior.

Division No. 2a.

1. Alterations to Prime Minister’s Lodge, Canberra....................

252

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.

Under Control of the Department of the Treasury.

Division No. 3.

1. Purchase of machinery and additional equipment for Government Printing Office, Canberra

51

Under Control of Department of the Interior.

Division No. 3a.

1. Additions and alterations to Government Printing Office, Canberra

388

Total Department of the Treasury.................

439

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE.

Under Control of Department of Defence.

NAVAL.

Division No. 7.

2. Naval establishments—machinery and plant......................

6

MILITARY.

Division No. 10.

Read—

2. Defence works, including fortifications and engineering works (to be paid to the credit of Trust Fund Defence Reserve Account)

4,800

In lieu of—

2. Defence works, including fortifications and engineering works (£2,300 to be paid to the credit of Trust Fund Defence Reserve Account)

4,800

3. Construction of motor launch...............................

491

Total Department of Defence....................

497

Carried forward..............

1,188

\n```\n\n \n1934-35.\n\n| PART 1.— DEPARTMENTS AND SERVICES-OTHER THAN BUSINESS UNDERTAKINGS AND TERRITORIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH. | |\n| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ |\n| | £ |\n| Brought forward.............. | 1,188 |\n| | |\n| DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND CUSTOMS. | |\n| Under Control of Department of the Interior. | |\n| Division No. 18. | |\n| 2. Purchase and installation of apparatus in connexion with film industry..... | 817 |\n| Total Part I.—Departments and Services other than Business Undertakings and Territories of the Commonwealth | 2,005 |\n| PART II.—BUSINESS UNDERTAKINGS. | |\n| POSTMASTER-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT. | |\n| Under Control of the Postmaster-General’s Department. | |\n| Division No. 23. | |\n| 1. Telegraph and miscellaneous services........................... | 13,572 |\n| PART III.—TERRITORIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH. | |\n| FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY. | |\n| Under Control of Department of the Interior. | |\n| Division No. 25. | |\n| 1. Architectural services..................................... | 1,936 |\n| Total Additions, New Works, Buildings, etc......................... | 17,513 |\n\n---\n\nBy Authority: L. F. Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act is entirely consistent with its stated purpose: to retrospectively appropriate supplementary funds for works and buildings expenditure in the 1934–35 financial year. It makes no departure from that narrow purpose, introduces no new regulatory powers, and affects no rights or obligations beyond the formal authorisation of already-spent public money. The scope is identical to what a supplementary appropriation (works and buildings) act would be expected to do."},"complexity_factors":["Very short — only 2 operative sections plus a schedule","No defined terms or interpretation provisions","No conditional logic or exceptions","Single financial mechanism (retrospective appropriation) applied straightforwardly","The only mild complexity is the 'Read/In lieu of' amendment in the Defence schedule, which corrects a description of how funds within item 2 are to be credited to the Trust Fund Defence Reserve Account — a minor internal accounting clarification"],"plain_english_summary":"## What This Law Does\n\nThis is a **supplementary appropriation act** — a law that formally authorises the Commonwealth government to spend money that has *already been spent*. Think of it as Parliament officially blessing expenditure that went ahead before full approval was locked in.\n\nSpecifically, it covers extra spending on **physical works and buildings** during the 1934–35 financial year (the year ending 30 June 1935). The total amount being ratified is **£17,513** (roughly equivalent to several hundred thousand dollars in today's money).\n\n---\n\n## Who Does It Affect?\n\nThis law affects the **Commonwealth government's own departments and infrastructure**, not private citizens. The spending covered by the Act touched four areas:\n\n- **Prime Minister's Department** — alterations to the Prime Minister's Lodge in Canberra (£252)\n- **Department of the Treasury** — equipment purchases and building work at the Government Printing Office in Canberra (£439 total)\n- **Department of Defence** — naval machinery and plant, defence fortifications/engineering works, and construction of a motor launch (£497 total)\n- **Department of Trade and Customs** — purchase and installation of apparatus related to the film industry (£817)\n- **Postmaster-General's Department** (a business undertaking) — telegraph and miscellaneous services infrastructure (£13,572 — the lion's share)\n- **Federal Capital Territory** — architectural services (£1,936)\n\n---\n\n## Why Does It Matter?\n\nUnder Australia's constitutional system, the government cannot spend public money without Parliament's authority. Sometimes spending happens in advance of that formal approval — often because projects carry over, costs exceed original estimates, or urgent works are needed. This Act gives that spending **retrospective legal authority** (meaning Parliament approves it *after the fact*), specifically backdating the approval to the date of the original 1934 Appropriation Act (Act No. 19 of 1934).\n\nWithout this kind of legislation, the original spending would technically lack proper legal backing. This is a routine but constitutionally important housekeeping measure in the federal budget cycle."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"Section 2 / Long Title","severity":"high","reasoning":"You cannot appropriate money 'for the service' of a financial year that has already concluded at the time of enactment. The financial year 1934-35 ended on 30 June 1935; this Act received royal assent on 28 May 1936. Section 2 compounds this by deeming the sum to have been appropriated 'as from the date of the passing of the Act No. 19 of 1934' — meaning Parliament is retroactively appropriating money for a year that ended before this Act even existed. The money had already been issued and spent before legal authority to spend it was granted by this Act.","confidence":0.97,"description":"The Act is titled 'Supplementary Appropriation (Works and Buildings) Act 1934-35' and purports to appropriate funds 'for the service of the year ended the thirtieth day of June One thousand nine hundred and thirty-five' — yet it was not assented to until 28th May 1936, nearly a full year after that financial year had already ended."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"Schedule — Division No. 10, Item 2 (Military)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"A 'Read … In lieu of' construction is a drafting correction mechanism — it signals that the 'Read' version replaces the 'In lieu of' version. However, both amounts are £4,800, so the correction makes no difference to the total appropriated. The only operative change is that £2,300 (rather than the full £4,800) goes to the Trust Fund Defence Reserve Account under the corrected version. This is internally confusing: the Schedule simultaneously presents both a superseded and a current version of the same provision without clearly striking out the superseded text, creating genuine ambiguity about which version governs and whether the correction was properly effected.","confidence":0.85,"description":"Division No. 10, Item 2 presents two versions of the same line item — a 'Read' version and an 'In lieu of' version — both showing the identical appropriation amount of £4,800, yet with a materially different internal condition: the 'Read' version directs the entire £4,800 to the Trust Fund Defence Reserve Account, while the 'In lieu of' version directs only £2,300 to that account. Despite this substantive difference in how the money is to be distributed, the total amount is identically stated as £4,800 in both versions, making it impossible to determine from the final text alone what the operative provision actually is."},{"type":"other","section":"Schedule — Department of Defence Total","severity":"high","reasoning":"Basic arithmetic: £6 (naval machinery) + £4,800 (defence works) + £491 (motor launch) = £5,297, not £497. The total appears to have omitted the £4,800 Defence works item entirely, or alternatively the £497 figure represents only the Naval (£6) and motor launch (£491) items, suggesting the £4,800 Defence works item may have been intentionally excluded from the Department of Defence sub-total and absorbed elsewhere — but no explanation is provided. This arithmetic discrepancy renders the Schedule internally inconsistent. Notably, the Abstract shows Part I total as £2,005, but if Defence's true total were £5,297, Part I would far exceed that figure, meaning the £4,800 item may be treated differently — but the Schedule provides no basis to determine this.","confidence":0.88,"description":"The 'Total Department of Defence' is stated as £497, but the itemised Defence figures are: Naval (Division 7, Item 2) £6 + Military (Division 10, Item 2) £4,800 + Military (Division 10, Item 3) £491 = £5,297. The stated total of £497 is arithmetically incorrect by £4,800."},{"type":"other","section":"Schedule — Part I Carried Forward / Brought Forward","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The carried-forward/brought-forward figures are internally consistent with the (incorrect) Defence sub-total of £497. If the £4,800 Military item is genuinely part of Part I, the carried-forward figure is wrong. If the £4,800 item is excluded from Part I's sub-total for some unspecified reason (e.g., it flows to a Trust Fund and is not counted as a direct expenditure), then the Schedule should make that clear but does not. Either way, the Schedule is ambiguous or arithmetically flawed.","confidence":0.82,"description":"The 'Carried forward' figure at the bottom of the first Schedule table is £1,188 (being £252 Prime Minister's + £439 Treasury + £497 Defence), and the 'Brought forward' figure at the top of the second table is also £1,188. However, if the Defence total is actually £5,297 (not £497 as stated), the carried-forward figure should be £5,988, not £1,188 — meaning the arithmetic error in the Defence total propagates through the entire Schedule."},{"type":"other","section":"Schedule — Part I Total vs Abstract","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The £4,800 item (Division 10, Item 2) sits squarely within the 'Part I — Departments and Services' section of the Schedule, under the Department of Defence. Yet it is excluded from both the Department of Defence sub-total (£497) and the Part I total (£2,005). No footnote, asterisk, or explanatory note is provided. The only hint is that the item is directed to the 'Trust Fund Defence Reserve Account,' suggesting it may have been treated as an off-budget or trust account item — but this is not explained in the Act or Schedule, leaving a structural ambiguity in the appropriation.","confidence":0.8,"description":"The Abstract states Part I total as £2,005. Working from the Schedule: Prime Minister's (£252) + Treasury (£439) + Defence (£497 per Schedule) + Trade and Customs (£817) = £2,005. This is internally consistent only if the £4,800 Military defence works item is excluded entirely from Part I's total — yet it appears within the Part I section of the Schedule with no explanation for its exclusion from the Part I sub-total."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"high","section_a":"Long Title / Section 2 — 'for the service of the year ended 30 June 1935'","section_b":"Assent date — 28 May 1936","confidence":0.95,"description":"The Act purports to appropriate money for a financial year (1934-35, ending 30 June 1935) that had already concluded nearly 11 months before the Act received royal assent. Section 2 further deems the appropriation to have effect 'as from the date of the passing of Act No. 19 of 1934' — a date two years before this Act was passed. The Act thus simultaneously claims to operate prospectively (as a current appropriation) and retroactively (deemed to apply from 1934), creating a direct temporal contradiction."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Schedule — Division No. 10, Item 2 ('Read' version): full £4,800 to Trust Fund Defence Reserve Account","section_b":"Schedule — Division No. 10, Item 2 ('In lieu of' version): only £2,300 to Trust Fund Defence Reserve Account","confidence":0.87,"description":"The 'Read' version of Division 10, Item 2 directs the entire £4,800 to the Trust Fund Defence Reserve Account. The 'In lieu of' version (which the 'Read' version purports to replace) directs only £2,300 to that account, implying £2,500 would be spent through ordinary channels. Both versions are presented in the same Schedule, creating a direct contradiction as to how much of the £4,800 is to be credited to the Trust Fund. Ordinarily the 'Read' version would prevail, but the presentation is sufficiently confusing that the operative version is not immediately clear."},{"severity":"high","section_a":"Schedule — Department of Defence sub-total: £497","section_b":"Schedule — Department of Defence itemised entries: £6 + £4,800 + £491 = £5,297","confidence":0.88,"description":"The stated Department of Defence sub-total (£497) directly contradicts the sum of its constituent line items (£5,297 if the £4,800 Military item is included, or £497 if it is excluded). The £4,800 item is listed within the Department of Defence section of the Schedule but is not reflected in the sub-total, creating a direct arithmetic contradiction within the same table."}]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1934-35","history":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1934-35/history","analysis":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1934-35/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1934-35/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1934-35/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1934-35/documents"}}